“The more things change, the more they stay the same.” As this proverb illustrates, although technology has allowed for advancements regarding numerous issues, many things remain unchanged.
For instance, in the past, when a man wanted to travel from Europe to North America, he would have to endure difficult and long months at sea. Now, technology even allows us to travel to the moon. On the other hand, when it comes to the maturation process of a baby, things remain very similar to past experiences. For example, while there have been periodic successes in “potty-training” programs, the majority of small children and babies continue to use diapers. So in essence, many babies still wear diapers for the initial and formative months of their lives. It is not unusual to see parents in the park looking for a proper place to change a baby's diaper.
As technology develops, a realization has emerged that although changing tables have become more available and evolved to a certain extent, there are still intrinsic limitations that hamper their usefulness. Current techniques utilized to make sure children are changed quickly and efficiently include adding changing tables to public bathrooms (and the changing tables and public bathrooms are often times not clean), changing a child at the park bench, changing a child in the back of a car, or even changing a child in a corner of a restaurant. Although all of these techniques work and ultimately the child is changed, all the aforementioned techniques are not ideal because they essentially force the parents and the child to engage in the changing process in a less-than-desirable environment. Who wants to see a baby being changed on a park bench? Who wants to see a baby being changed in the corner of a restaurant? Who, still, wants to see a baby changed in a bathroom that adults themselves feel are dirty? In short, desirable avenues for changing diapers are few and far between. Oftentimes, most options for changing diapers are inconvenient for the caretakers as well as for the people around them.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus that allows changing a child's diaper relatively convenient, private, and at the same time fully safe. While parents could certainly carry a changing table with them during trips, no parent truly wants to lug a changing table around the zoo or around the mall. In fact, some portable changing tables amount to a cushioned mat that can be placed on the ground, a park bench, or even draped across car seats. Unfortunately, a cushioned mat is not a changing table—and it naturally follows that cushioned mats do not provide any security means for retaining a child in case the child decides to roll. Further, cushioned mats are a little more than fancy blankets; there is no rigid structural support that a cushioned mat provides should the changing surface nearby not be completely flat—for example, if the cushioned mat is placed on rocky ground. Therefore, a need exists for an apparatus that offers the stability, child retaining ability, familiarity, and storage nooks commonly found in a changing table; but that is portable.
Even a portable changing table is cumbersome to haul, as aforementioned, so there is a need for a novel apparatus that does not require carrying, as does a changing table. Cushioned changing mats still must be folded under the arm or placed in a backpack, taking up space and adding weight. Parents require a changing table that is ready for use whenever desired, but that does not need to be hauled around in a backpack, under the arm, or stored in a car truck inaccessibly when remote from the car.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,389,624 issued to Madole on May 21, 2002, is a portable child changing apparatus that serves as a changing table that can essentially be broken down into a mobile bag form. Unlike the present invention, Madole must still be carried, watched and transported as a separate item. Madole provides the use of a carrying strap to sling the item onto a baby carriage. This is significantly different from the present invention because the present invention becomes secured and therefore part of the baby carriage. This creates an easier apparatus to work with as the user of the present invention merely unlocks a clasp and gets to utilize an elevated changing table that is sturdy and compact. Moreover, a user of the present invention only has to watch out for the baby carriage and not a baby carriage and portable changing table as is the case with Madole.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,224 issued to Kim on Aug. 10, 1993 is a multi-function baby support and transport apparatus. Kim takes a baby seat with wheels and attaches a changing table to its handle. Unlike the present invention, Kim requires that the apparatus be broken down in order for the changing table to be a feasible endeavor. The present invention, in contrast, involves a secure and non-invasive changing table that, when deployed, does not interfere with any other aspect of the baby carriage.
In essence, current avenues for changing diapers while the baby and guardian are on the go are not wholly convenient. Moreover, parents and guardians are at the mercy of events outside of their control. This includes finding a bathroom with a diaper-changing station. Looking deeper into this scenario, the parent may find that when they do indeed find this diaper-changing station that it will be dirty, crowded or already in use.
A parent may opt to change a diaper in a vehicle. However, there are obvious issues relating to this scenario such as cramped conditions, lack of a level surface and cleanliness. Changing a child on the ground also contains obvious conditions that would not be desirable.
But for a parent and baby on the go, some sort of baby carriage—whether it is a large, fancy baby carriage or simple baby carriage without all the bells and whistles—is nearly always a constant accompanying device. Going to the park, taking a walk, traveling on vacation, enjoying an amusement park or shopping at the mall. Baby carriages are used to maneuver small children through throngs of people and other conditions. What the present invention does is to take this constant and combine it with an apparatus that specifically caters to the diaper-changing process on the parents' own terms rather than current reliance on somebody else. The result is a novel changing table that is not additionally cumbersome because it already is attached to the baby carriage. Thus, this universal need is solved as parents can now use the present invention to change diapers under their own controlled conditions in an easily accessible and non-obtrusive way.